Cousin Sal’s Sure Thing Week 1

Sal Iancono (Cousin Sal) released the first episode of his new web-show Friday. Cousin Sal’s Sure Thing will be his new platform for delivering his weekly best bets for the NFL. Jimmy Kimmel opens the first episode quickly with a lead-in to Sal’s 79% win percentage over the past two years with ESPN. I will be tracking the picks Sal releases on his show as well as those discussed on Bill Simmons’ podcast throughout the 2016-17 NFL season.

Cousin Sal's Sure Thing

After the introduction Cousin Sal says that he will turn a starting bankroll of $10,000 into $1,000,000 over the next 21 weeks. This will be accomplished through three best bets each week that will be posted on the show’s Facebook page. While this seems like an impossible goal I have seen plenty of people on Twitter with egg profile pictures pull it off each week. We will see.

Cousin Sal NFL Picks Week 1

Tennessee Titans (+2) vs. Minnesota Vikings

Cousin Sal has bet $770 to win $700 on the Tennessee Titans for the following reasons:

Sam Bradford will only have 7 days to prepare for this game, although it has not been announced which quarterback will be getting the start.

DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry will give the Titans a strong running game.

Cousin Sal believes it will be a low-scoring physical game with the home team winning over a devastated opposition.

Detroit Lions (+3.5) at Indianpolis

Cousin Sal has risked $1320 to win $1200 on the Detroit Lions for the following reasons:

Colts secondary suffered a blow with Vontae Davis injury. This will make it easier for Lions QB Matthew Stafford to gel with his wide receivers.

Indianapolis has been outscored by 36 points over their last 4 opening day matches.

Chuck Strong / Chuck Weak pun.

Best Bet: Chicago Bears (+6) at Houston Texans

This is Cousin Sal’s best bet of the week. He has risked $1980 to win $1800 on the Chicago Bears for the following reasons:

Cousin Sal expects the Bears’ front seven to be great this year. He expects them to pressure Osweiler.

JJ Watt will be limited after offseason surgery.

Cousin Sal’s Fantasy Gem: Matt Ryan

Sal will be predicting an underrated fantasy player each week. He has selected the Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan for the following reasons:

Plays well against Tampa averaging almost 28 fantasy points per game over their last 3 contests.

Tampa Bay gave up 272 passing yards on the road last year.

Matt Ryan will have incentive given that his former head coach Mike Smith is now that Bucs’ defensive coach.

Cousin Sal’s Fantasy Bust: Matt Forte

Sal will be predicting an overrated fantasy player each week. He went with Matt Forte for Week 1 for the following reasons:

He is playing against the Cincinnati Bengals defense that was 7th against the run last season only conceding 8 rushing touchdowns.

Cousin Sal believes he is too old and injury prone.

Cousin Sal Futures Bets

I will also be tracking Cousin Sal’s podcast record when he discusses NFL picks with Bill Simmons. On this week’s episode he announced that his Super Bowl pick was the Kansas City Chiefs (+2300) who he believes will face the Green Bay Packers for the Championship. He also announced that he has parlayed the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers to miss the playoffs. He did not mention what price this was at.